Our Great Big Fat Greek Holiday

 RUINed in Athens

Day One was a long day. Leaving Vancouver at 6:00 pm with a stop in Munich, arriving  about the same time we had left Vancouver but the next day. Our first challenge as we deplaned on Day Two was to find the COVID testing site located somewhere in the airport where we had reservations for tests. We needed a negative test result to board the Norwegian Jade. While I have mixed feeling about the internet, it is handy.  I had the office already marked on a map which we used to make our way quickly to where the office wasn’t. They had moved. We hung around and waited for our negative test before leaving the airport. We were promised that they would email our results within 4 hours but you know; that internet thing.  

We left the airport in total darkness. Found our hotel quickly thanks to Google maps. Check in was swift and efficient. The hotel has a rooftop restaurant/bar so throwing our luggage on the bed; we headed up for some dinner and a much needed drink. Walking out onto the terrace we were immediately slapped in the face with a postcard picture view of the ancient ruins of the Acropolis lit up by huge spotlights. Another box on our bucket list ticked.

 

It had to be an early Day 3 as we only had one and one half days to revel in the myriad of thousand year old ruins that litter Athens. Breakfast on the terrace with the rising sun and not spotlights lighting up the Acropolis. 

We had booked a 6 hour walking tour that would take us to many of the sites and  ruins on our list. Starting with the changing of the guard at the Greek parliament. More Rockettes than Buckingham Palace. 

Zeus’s Temple but sadly like many ruins it was covered in scaffolding. 

I guess if we were over 2,000 years old, we'd need a little scaffolding. 

Photo: Wikipedia 

And Hadrian’s Arch. But these were just appetizers for us.

Our main course was the Acropolis. 

The day was getting warm as we made our way up the steep climb to the entrance into the Acropolis. Despite being outside the usual tourist season we quickly realized how popular the site was as we made our way to the entrance.

The Acropolis is just not one ruin but a collection of ruins with most from the 4th and 5^th Century BC.    

 

Temple of Athena Nike was the first temple to be constructed on the site and dedicated to both goddesses. 

Theatre of Herodes Atticus. Still being used today for concerts.  

The Erechtheum, a temple dedicated to the Goddess Athena. She was the goddess of wisdom, warfare and handicrafts. A very eclectic mix one would say.  

The Porch of the Caryatids. Caryatids are sculpted and draped figures of women, quite often used as pillars. The six in the picture are replicas. 5 were relocated to the Athens museum as they were becoming too damaged by pollution and one was saved or stolen by Lord Elgin and now located in the British Museum. 

The most iconic and recognizable ruin is the Parthenon, the most photographed ruin in Athens and right up there with the Coliseum in Rome.  Another temple dedicated to the Goddess Athena. 

It was impossible to get a picture of just Nonie and me alone with the Parthenon in the back ground. I can only imagine what it would be like in the heat (no pun intended) of the tourist season.

 

Despite 6 ½ hours on our feet, we still had a little left in the tank, we decided to head over to the Panathenaic Stadium. A small side bar on my bucket list was to run a lap on the track. Built in 114 AD and reconstructed in 1869 and used for the first modern Olympics held in 1896. Sadly the extremely high entrance fee and the sweaty walk over from the Acropolis dulled any desire to run a lap so it was back to the hotel. 

We had a late check in booked onto the ship so had most of Day 4 to explore a few more ruins before heading to the port of Piraeus.  Leaving our luggage at the hotel we headed to Lybettas Hill, the highest point in central Athens. 

It provides a stunning of view of Athens.  It is best seen at sun rise of sun set but what attracted me, was the funicular (cable car for you uneducated) that would haul us up 200 metres to the top. There is a small church at the top. It was Sunday and as we descended we passed a lot of finely dressed members of the flock walking up for the morning service. Made us feel a little blasphemous and lazy all at once.  

It was a left turn at the bottom and we were off to wander through the old commercial district of Plaka. An area of old buildings restored to Disney like condition and populated by more souvenir shops than you can shake a tchotchke at.  We are not big souvenir shoppers but the Plaka just happened to be on the way to more Athens ruins. 

Hadrian's Library, built in 132 AD  was 10.000 square metres of readin and writin.  

The Ancient Agora of Athens. Agora, Greek for marketplace. Closed for renovations. 

Our day was fading fast so it was back to the hotel to grab our bags and head to Piraeus and board the Norwegian  Jade, our home for the next week.